Every year on the second Sunday in July, thousands of runners sprint from the Boilermaker Road Race starting line. The event is one of the largest 15K road races in the country, and the starting pistol marks the culmination of countless hours of work behind the scenes by race officials, committee members, and volunteers.

It’s up to HTC employees to make them look good.

From screen printing the official shirts for race staff and volunteers to producing and managing the official merchandise of the race, “People with disabilities are part of this huge community event in a very important way,” said Rick Sebastian, president/CEO of HTC.

Established in 1978, the Utica, N.Y., Boilermaker Road Race draws runners and spectators from around the world. “We have a joint partnership with the Boilermaker that extends beyond producing and selling shirts to actually managing the merchandise,” Sebastian said. Each year, an artist develops a Boilermaker logo, and employees of Graphtex incorporate that logo onto pieces of clothing to craft T-shirts, jackets, hats, and other official items. In 2008, HTC created an entire original line of clothing called the Elite line that carries the official Boilermaker logo. Supply Chain Logistics manages the online Boilermaker store that sells the merchandise and fulfills orders.

“Each year, all eyes are on the Boilermaker as a world-class athletic event,” Sebastian said. “Our role in it shows that people with disabilities can contribute to this event beyond the physical. Anyone can screen print. But not anyone can have the level of commitment that HTC has to the Boilermaker.”